The Knee CSOR Criminal Justice Colloquium

On October 21st, the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation (CSOR) collaborated with the
Institute for Humane Studies' from George Mason University to host a colloquium at Saint Francis University, which focused on criminal justice reform.
Professor Brian Meehan from Berry College facilitated the discussion
entitled: "Reforming the System: Criminal Justice in the U.S." The
aim of the colloquium was to engage students in a text-based dialogue of open
inquiry, in which the discussants explore fundamental ideas and questions about
how to achieve a more just, peaceful, and prosperous world.

The daylong event was broken down into four
sessions to help facilitate discussion. Session 1, The History of Policing,
explored the evolution of the role of police by examining Radley Balko’s book, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization
of America’s Police Force, and Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles of
Policing. Session 2, Structure of Policing, used an excerpt of Lt. Col. Dave
Grossman’s book, On Combat, entitled “On
Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs” to explore the psychology of police and criminals
in relation to the structure of policing. Session 3, Licensing as a Barrier to
Reform, focuses on how occupational licensing may be affecting criminal justice
reform by examining Rodriguez and Avery’s National Employment Law Project, “Unlicensed
& Untapped: Removing Barriers to State Occupational Licenses for People
with Records.” Finally, Session 4, Consequences and Pivoting to Reform, reexamines
Radley Balko’s book and Stephen Slivintski’s article, “Turning Shackles into
Bootstraps,” to arrive at potential criminal justice reforms.

The 16 students
who attended the colloquium contemplated and discussed the material so that each individual
was able to arrive at their own unique interpretation and conclusion. The Knee
CSOR hopes to host another colloquium for students in the Spring Semester of 2018.